1. Sit down and talk about your teen’s day.
2. Volunteer together.
3. Make dinner together.
4. Solve a problem together. It could involve a household issue, like how to keep clutter from collecting on the table or it may involve how to solve bigger problems of the world, like poverty.
5. Attend a music festival.
6. Talk about the future. Identify your teen’s future goals and discuss what the world might be like 20, 30, or even 50 years down the road.
7. Read the same book and talk about it.
8. Plan a weekend trip.
9. Go hiking.
10. Watch a play.
11. Develop a new healthy habit together, like exercising or writing in a gratitude journal.
12. Attend a concert.
13. Explore foods from other cultures by attending restaurants that serve food you’ve never tried or by cooking foods from other parts of the world.
14. Plan a family vacation together.
15. Work on a monthly menu planner together.
16. Participate in a monthly challenge, such as walking for 30 days or saving spare change for one month.
17. Take a walking tour of historic neighborhoods.
18. Take a class together, like a photography class or a graphic design class offered in the community.
19. Go to the ballet.
20. Attend a community event.
21. Build or add to a family website or social media site together.
22. Research your family tree.
23. Visit your library.
24. Do a puzzle and frame it.
25. Plant a garden in the backyard or a potted indoor garden.
26. Go to a reading by a local author.
27. Play catch.
28. Have a picnic.
29. Go to a museum.
30. Learn woodworking together.
31. Take a pottery class.
32. Stargaze together.
33. Find shapes in the clouds together.
34. Go to the zoo.
35. Learn about the history of your community together.
36. Make a time capsule.
37. Watch a parade.
38. Go to a professional sports event.
39. Make a video.
40. Make a pillow or quilt out of your old T-shirts and blankets.
41. Have a campfire.
42. Visit a national park.
43. Take a yoga class together.
44. Learn a new sport.
45. Start a small business together.
46. Get a tour of a college.
47. Attend a poetry event.
48. Order out at your teen’s favorite fast food joint.
49. Spend a day at the beach or a lake.
50. Learn to play a musical instrument together.
Take turns picking the activities. It’s good for your teen to attend events that she might not have chosen herself so don’t be afraid to pick things that might not interest her at first. She might discover some hidden talents or develop new interests.
Give her a chance to pick some of the activities as well to help her stay invested in spending quality time together. You might find you’re better able to stick with your plan if you schedule a regular date together, like once a week or twice or month.
Note: this list is duplicated at https://www.verywellfamily.com/things-to-do-with-or-for-your-teen-2609590, but I’m not sure it originated from there. I’ve had it in my notes for several years.